Romo's tie wall also is a work of art. Blue and white are among UTSA's colors along with orange, the energetic signature hue that rules Romo's ties every day of the week.

More than 200 of them in various shades of orange are neatly stacked two and three on top of each other on wooden pegs. They're in solids, pastels, stripes, geometric prints and feature fish and squiggly designs from Salvatore Ferragamo, Hermès, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, Kenneth Cole, Izod, Brooks Brothers and Jerry Garcia.

Many are gifts from friends purchased while on vacation in faraway lands.

“And this one and this one and this one are from Jimmy Cavender,” he said about the patriarch of Cavender car dealerships in S.A.

“He brings me an orange tie every Christmas. He walks in with a tie box and says 'Guess what's in this box?' I always say 'A bowling ball.' And he says 'No, guess again, c'mon guess again.' So when I wear them, I think of Jimmy because he's a funny guy.”

Romo began his remarkable and spirited tie collection a couple of weeks after he took over as UTSA president 14 years ago. While at a rotary event he was impressed by the principal of Lanier High who was dressed in the school's blue and white colors.

“I commented that she had her school colors on and she said, 'Always!' A month later I saw her again and she was in blue and white — and very proud. At the time I had one orange tie and put it on for an event and then another and another. That's when I started buying orange ties.”

There's never a problem selecting a tie because they all go with the two shirt colors he always wears, white or blue. And the pop of orange, always knotted in a half-Windsor, compliments his 30 tropical wool-blend size 46 suits in black or navy.

“The tie I have on today is perfect because it's not stripes, which I've worn for three days in a row,” he said. “Last week I hit ties on this rack and the week before I hit that rack over there. This morning I hit this row and simply looked at what caught my eye, something that wasn't a stripe.”

Harriett, who often is in orange and blue, too, approves of her husband's stylish obsession.

“I love his orange tie habit,” she said. “I like his pride in the university and his spirit about building UTSA. He has this deep desire to get the message out to people about the university, and that's what his ties are all about.”

Romo is the first to admit he feels odd without an orange tie around his button-down shirt.

Once, and only once, he was without his favorite accessory while on a trip to Washington, D.C. for several meetings.

“I opened my suitcase and there were no orange ties. I went to the hotel gift store and they had every color but orange,” he recalled. He settled for a red one, hoping it would read orange. Of course, it didn't. “I didn't feel right, and you could say it wasn't my best day.”